Ewon demands clarity from Loke on Sabah’s rights concerns

KOTA KINABALU: Former Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick wants DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke to explain to the people of Sabah the eight points the federal government wants to challenge concerning Sabah’s 40% claims.

He said, according to the notice of appeal filed by the federal government, there were eight matters that it wanted to challenge following the Oct 17 Kota Kinabalu High Court decision on the 40% entitlement for Sabah.

“So I ask Loke and the federal cabinet, including the Prime Minister, to please explain to the people of Sabah, what are these eight points that the federal government wants to challenge,” he said in a video posting following Loke’s rebuttal that Ewon, who is the UPKO president, was “playing to the gallery” rather than a genuine act of bravery.

In Loke’s statement, he criticised Ewon for repeatedly alleging that the Cabinet ignored Sabah’s views when, in reality, he failed to attend the very meeting called to resolve the issue.

He further questioned why Ewon did not use the Cabinet meeting to record his objections or challenge the Attorney General directly.

Ewon explained that over the past three years, he had consistently voiced his views on the 40% claim, stating that it is not the same as the compulsory federal development funding for Sabah, and that he had attended meetings on the same issues.

“As for the AGC matter, it is not the first time that the AGC has been invited to clarify and explain related issues. But what was Loke’s stand during these meetings?” he asked.

He said many Sabah Members of Parliament had also expressed similar views on this matter, but it did not seem to be a strong enough message for the federal government.

That was why Ewon decided to quit the cabinet and later bring Upko out of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, with the hope that the message that Sabah wants its rights back and that they would be implemented immediately would be strongly heard and understood.

As for being a hero, he said he is not a hero because the two real heroes are the Sabah Law Society and the man who dared to ask the PM when he was going to pay Sabah its 40% during a walkabout at the Sunday Gaya Market here, recently.

“They are the real heroes, not me,” he stated, adding that while he respected his federal counterparts, a line had to be drawn when boundaries and rights were overstepped.